News in brief: Germans swallow Hula Hoops maker, Sage defies gloom to climb to £356m, Irish face another austerity budget

The maker of Hula Hoops and McCoy’s crisps was today sold to the German snacks group behind Pom-Bear in a deal worth $640 million (£397 million).

United Biscuits, owned by private-equity groups Blackstone and PAI, sold KP Snacks to Intersnack. United said it will retain ownership of snacks made in its biscuit factories, including Mini Cheddars and Twiglets. KP Snacks has an annual turnover of £280 million and employs 1500 people.

Sage defies gloom to climb to £356m

Software giant Sage today shrugged off weakness in its key eurozone markets such as France and Spain as it reported a 4% rise in pre-tax profit to £356.3 million before exceptionals in the year to September. The company, whose software is used by more than six million small businesses to run payroll and accounts, was boosted by higher sales of subscriptions for technology support.

Irish face another austerity budget

Ireland was today seeing its sixth austerity budget since the financial crisis, with finance minister Michael Noonan expected to announce €3.5bn (£2.9bn) tax rises and spending cuts. Ireland received an €85bn EU/IMF bailout in November 2011, but has made a limited return to the sovereign bond markets. It faces a budget deficit of 8.3% of GDP this year, and in the second quarter GDP was 1.1% down over the year.